The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday carried out searches at five locations in Mumbai linked to global tours and travel company Cox and Kings Group (CKG) in connection with Rs 3,642 crore Yes Bank fraud case.

The agency conducted raids at the premises of promoter, directors, CFO and auditor of CKG group named as Ajay Ajit Peter, Pesi Patel, Abhishek Goenka, Anil Khandelwal and Naresh Jain. The raids were carried out with an aim to gather information and proof of dealings between Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor and Cox and Kings firm, said an agency source.

The ED took the action under its ongoing probe in the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The agency said that Yes Bank has Rs 3,642 crore loan exposure to Cox and Kings firm -- one of the top borrowers of the bank.

Of the Rs 3,642 crore loan exposure, Rs 563 crore was borrowed by Cox and Kings Ltd (CKL), India; Rs 1,12 crore by Ezeego one travel and tours Ltd (EOTTL), India; Rs 422 crore by Cox and Kings Financial Services Ltd (CKFSL), India; Rs 1,152 crore by Prometheon Enterprise Limited, UK; and Rs 493 crore by Malvern Travel Ltd, UK.

During investigation, irregularities were also noticed in relation to the loan sanctioned to Cox and Kings Group, the ED said. "The Group had created multiple layers of onshore and offshore subsidiaries across the globe through which the monies were siphoned off."

Yes Bank filed a formal complaint in this regard on March 18 this year. It is learnt during investigation that Malvern Travel Limited, UK -- an entity of CKG -- was having outstanding of Rs 493 crore which submitted the forged bank statement of RBS Bank, UK; State Bank of India, UK and forged end use certificates of BDO LLP (Statutory Auditor of the UK based Entity) to avail loan from Yes Bank.

This forgery was pointed out by KPMG which is the administrator of this UK based entity. Cox and Kings Limited (CKL) forged its consolidated financials by forging the balance sheets of the overseas subsidiaries. The same was informed to BSE/NSE by the resolution professional in writing.

The statutory auditor of the Prometheon Enterprise Limited (PEL), UK -- a subsidiary of CKG -- was Raffingers UK LLP. The financials of PEL were sent to India by fictitious domain name impersonating the current officials of Raffingers UK LLP. For this, Raffingers UK LLP filed a criminal complaint to the National Crime Agency, UK.